Monthly Organizing Challenge: Under the Sink

Last week, I talked about wanting to create more interaction with all of you here on the blog. I hope you’ll sign up to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest! I’m here today with another fun way that we can all interact: A Monthly Organizing Challenge!

Each month, I plan to present a new challenge to organize a space in our homes. I’ll show you what I did in my own space and give you some ideas on how to get started in yours. Then, as you complete the challenge, we can share our results with one another. If you have an Instagram account, please share your monthly organizing photos using the hashtag #ocomonthlychallenge. You are also welcome to leave comments on each month’s post about what worked and didn’t work for you, and I encourage you to leave me some ideas on what spaces you’d like to see featured in upcoming months. So what do you say? Will you accept my challenge?
This month, I chose the area under the kitchen sink. This is one of the hardest places for me to keep organized. Here is a before shot of this space in our house.

It is cluttered with multiple open bottles of the same products, old products that might not even be usable anymore, and items that really don’t belong in this space.

To start this project, let’s remove everything from the space. 

Once it’s empty, wipe it down so it’s nice and clean. 

Then, go through your items and determine which of four categories each item belongs to: 

• return to the space
• return to a different space
• donate
• trash/recycle

When you’re finished dividing up the items, take the trash/recycle items to their designated containers right away. Feeling better already?

Let’s go back to the items remaining in the return to space category. If your space is like mine, you may need to consolidate like items. (I had three open bottles of dish soap and two open bottles of carpet spot cleaner.) 

Now that you have an idea of what needs to go back in the space, you can assess what types of storage containers are going to be most helpful. 

For this space, I decided on two major storage solutions. 

First, I hung a tension rod across the top half of the cabinet. This creates easy storage for spray bottles and keeps them up out of the way. If you have a lot of bottles, closet rod sockets are super easy to install and will prevent your tension rod from slipping.

I picked up my tension rod and the closet sockets at my local Meijer store with a 15% off coupon, spending just $5. (If you don’t have a Meijer near you, I’m sure you can find these items at Walmart or a home improvement store.)

Second, I moved a metal sliding drawer from our master bath cabinet. It doesn’t get utilized in that space and I think it will work much better under the kitchen sink. I used it to hold rags, dish soap, sponges, and a few products that can’t hang on the tension rod.

I also hung a simple command hook in the cabinet to hang the dish drying mat out of the way when it’s not in use.

When your storage containers are in place, return your keep items to the space. When you’ve got everything you want to keep put away, take the items that you determined belonged in a different space and put those away. 

I find it best to take care of these items last because, chances are, if I take a group of items into another room, I will get distracted organizing something in that room instead of finishing the project I started.

I showed off the space to my mister and he asked what I was going to do with all that open space? I said, “Nothing!”

So, now it’s your turn! I’m challenging you to organize the area under your sink over the next 30 days. 

I strongly encourage you to schedule the project into your calendar. If you don’t have time to complete it all at once, break it into parts and schedule each of those parts. It might only be 10 to 15 minutes here and there, but you have 30 days to get it finished!

Don’t be shy. Share your spaces on Instagram to encourage and motivate others! I can’t wait to see them!

What spaces do you find are most difficult to keep organized?

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Let's Get Social

I decided to start this blog for one main reason: to share my love of organizing with other people. Each week, I hope that my posts inspire, teach, encourage, and bring joy to others. At the same time, I look forward to hearing from all of you. I want to hear your organizing ideas and learn from you. I want to hear your questions or areas of trouble. A one way conversation is no fun. So, I’m inviting you to get social with me!

In addition to my weekly blog posts, there are a number of ways for us to all connect with one another. I encourage you to check out one or more of the options listed below. I hope you find them as beneficial as I do! 

Connect with Me through E-mail

How to Do It: Just above my photo on the right hand side of my page is a box that says “Subscribe By E-mail.” Type your e-mail in that box to sign-up. You will get a confirmation e-mail almost immediately. The next step is very important, and one that most people forget or overlook. You have to click the link in that confirmation e-mail to confirm your subscription. 

Why to Do It: Each time I post on the blog, that post will be sent directly to your e-mail.

What You Get: You will never miss any new posts. If you’re like me, you are logging in to your e-mail daily anyway so you’ll never have to remember to stop by the blog page. Plus, you can save e-mails/posts you find particularly beneficial in an e-mail folder for easy reference later.

Connect with Me through Facebook

How to Do It: Click the blue and white "f" icon under the “Follow Me” heading on the right hand side of my page or visit www.facebook.com/openconceptorganizing. If you’re already logged in to Facebook, type Open Concept Organizing into the search bar. Click on my page. Click Like or Follow and my posts should show up in your News Feed.

Why to Do It: Right now, I’m only posting one post per week on the blog. Facebook allows me to share organizing related information with you almost daily. Three days a week I share a post from another blog that is organizing or cleaning related. In addition, I always post my weekly blog topic on my Facebook page as well as a flashback post of an organizing blog post from a few months back.

What You Get: This gives you some exposure to other blogs you might like and offers an alternate opinion from my own on different topics. If you aren't subscribed by e-mail and forget to check the blog on a regular basis, you’ll be notified of new posts through Facebook. If you missed a post on the blog from awhile back, it will be showcased on Facebook periodically.

Connect with Me through Instagram

How to Do It: Click the old-school looking camera icon under the “Follow Me” heading on the right hand side of my page or go to www.instagram.com/openconceptorganizing. Click on the +Follow button.

Why to Do It: I’ve found it somewhat difficult to incorporate Instagram into my blog, but thanks to a 31 day purge challenge, I’m starting to get the hang of it. You’ll find photos of my organizing projects and a variety of before and afters. Instagram is also a more personal social media avenue for me so you’ll find photos of my Mister and our furry kid, Mando.

What You Get: Because Instagram consists of photos instead of words (for the most part) it’s easy to scroll through your feed and see what’s new relatively quickly. It can be inspiring to see photos of other people’s work. Through the use of hashtags, you’ll find other people posting photos of similar projects so you get more than one idea all in one place. Plus, if you don’t live in a four season state like Michigan, you’ll get a glimpse of the beauty fall and winter bring to us folks in the mitten. 

Connect with Me through Pinterest

How to Do It: Click the "P" icon under the “Follow Me” heading on the right hand side of my page or go to www.pinterest.com/openconcept. Click follow to follow all of my boards or click on boards that might interest you and follow them individually.

Why to Do It: Pinterest is by far the most well rounded of my social media applications. You can find ideas and projects, recipes, home décor, hobbies I’m interested in, etc. I’ve tried to create enough boards so that there is something there for everyone but not too many that it gets to be overwhelming.

What You Get: Pinterest allows you to save - or pin - favorite posts or projects you might want to try later. I try to pin new pins at least four times a week, so if you're following me, these pins will show up in your home feed giving you the option to pin them too. This gives you links to new recipes, craft projects, and organizing ideas more often. Since the blog focuses mostly on organizing, Pinterest gives you the opportunity to learn more about me (and others) who share other similar interests. While I do love organizing and it is a huge part of my life, I also enjoy (and pin about) camping, eating, crafting, shopping, beer tasting, photography, saving money, and fashion.

I would love to get to know you better and learn what kinds of things you're interested in. Take advantage of all the benefits above and follow me on social media today!

What social media application do you like best? What topics would you like to see addressed on social media?

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Custom Floor-Length Curtains for Under $50

Since painting the master bedroom back in June, work on the redecorating in this space pretty much stalled. Now that temperatures are getting cooler outside, my focus is starting to return to being indoors and finishing up some of those projects that were ignored all summer.

This is what I started with…

The new paint color helped A LOT!

There is still much more I want to accomplish in this space and to get started, I wanted to add some curtains around the window.

When I started looking at curtain options for the bedroom, I was looking at spending more money than I wanted.  A while back, I found four 84-inch Pier 1 tab top curtain panels at a garage sale for $5. Five dollars!!!

When I bought them, I didn’t have an exact purpose in mind for them. (That happens more than it should.) But when I was trying to find a cheaper solution for the bedroom window, I remembered I had these beauties stashed away. I dug them out and knew this was the almost-perfect purpose for them; almost perfect because I was left with two issues.

First, I wanted to hang the curtains closer to the ceiling to make the room feel a bit taller, but with 84 inch curtains, that wasn’t going to be possible. Second, they were a cream color, which blends with the room well, but in such a huge chuck they felt kind of bland.

To solve these issues, I decided to add in some fabric inserts to make the curtains longer and more colorful. 

Purple is my favorite color. It’s safe to say the Mister doesn’t share that sentiment. Since we have to share the master bedroom, I decided purple shouldn’t be one of the main colors in the room. I want the room to be comfortable, cozy, and relaxing and, at the same time, not too feminine or masculine. After considering those things, I decided to focus on the blues and greens as the main color in the room and use purple and orchid as accents.

Picking the fabric for the insert was like picking waldo out of a crowd of people wearing red and white striped shirts…way too overwhelming. Instead of getting lost in a sea of fabric online, I just walked through our local JoAnn Fabrics store and collected samples of homedecor fabrics I thought might work. Then I went home and pinned each sample onto the curtain and draped it over the existing shade to get a rough idea of what the finished project might look like.

I settled on one fabric over the rest pretty quickly. I waited patiently until the home décor fabrics hit the 50% sale that rotates at JoAnn’s, and as soon as it appeared, I drove over and bought it.

Better Homes & Gardens Legatto Breeze

I decided the easiest way to measure what size I needed the inserts to be was to hang the curtains and see how far they were from the ground. To do that, I’d need to pick out my rod.

I tossed around the idea of making my own curtain rod, but then I found a rod at Hobby Lobby that I really liked. With a 40% off coupon, it was only $11. The supplies I needed to buy for a DIY version plus the time it would take me to put it together was too much for me to pass up the already made rod. So it was purchased.

I hung the rod using this crazy easy technique I found on Pinterest. Then, I ironed one curtain panel and hung it on the rod and measured how much length I needed to add.

I cut the insert fabric accordingly. I decided to cut the curtains about nine inches from the bottom of the tabs.

Then I just sewed the insert onto each cut side using a ¼ “ seam allowance. A bit of ironing followed and then I hung them up!

The curtains make the room feel more like home. They add warmth and coziness without blocking too much light from coming in.

After hanging the curtains, I finally switched out the bedding and the pillows that have been stashed in my closet for I don’t know how many months. 

I made a throw pillow cover with the left over curtain fabric I had.

Here is a before and after shot of the progress so far!

I still have a project list that includes remodeling the nightstands, adding new lamps, and adding some décor above the dresser, but the room is finally starting to come together.

Are you picking up on some projects that stalled over the summer? How have you customized an item to make it your own? I'd love to hear your stories!

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10 Items I Always Buy at the Dollar Store

The Dollar Store is one of my favorite places to visit. Every time I go in, I feel like a kid at Christmas. There are always new items and everything is only $1. While there are certain items I wouldn’t recommend buying at a dollar store, there are a lot of good bargains. I’ve put together a list of ten items that I always buy at the dollar store. 

These are items that are often much more expensive at other stores and are still a decent quality.

Greeting Cards

I’ve seen greeting cards priced as high as $6 at some stores, and on average, find them for between $2 and $4. But the dollar store has a huge variety of cards for all occasions and they are only $1. Our dollar store also has a section for 2/$1 cards and they are just as nice as a $4 card you’d find elsewhere.

Gift Wrap

I typically use gift bags and tissue paper to wrap most of my gifts and that can get expensive. The dollar store has really nice gift bags for just $1 and packs of tissue paper holding 10-20 sheets for – you guessed it - $1.

Storage / Organizing Containers

When I’m working on an organizing project at home, I usually shop my house first for any containers that I might be able to re-purpose. When I can’t find something at home, I check the Dollar Store before going to a thrift store or other store. Our dollar store carries plastic storage containers, fabric storage boxes, baskets, and bins of all shapes, colors, and sizes. I can usually find something that will work for my needs, even if I need to manipulate it a little bit to work. This is how I was able to organize our entire RV for less than $40.

Holiday Décor

Honestly, Christmas is about the only holiday I decorate for. But each season, the holiday décor selection at the dollar store changes and it’s usually pretty nice stuff. Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Saint Patrick’s Day, and Valentine’s Day are popular decorating holidays and the dollar store comes through with tons of fun décor for super cheap. At Christmas, they carry bulb ornaments and other tree décor that you just can’t find for that price anywhere else.

Picture Frames

When I need a small picture frame for a project or a gift, I check the dollar store first. I make sure to inspect the frame for any scratches or dings and especially check the glass for any cracks or breaks. I bought a batch of 12 8x10 frames at the dollar store to use for our wedding décor. The frames hold up well and by far beat the other store prices of $5-$30+ for frames.

Dishes

I don’t buy my regular dishes at the dollar store, but I do buy dishes to be used as gifts. For example, last Christmas I purchased some coffee mugs at the dollar store and filled them with different drink mixes like hot cider, hot cocoa, and coffee. These made nice gifts for neighbors, co-workers, and other hard-to-buy-for people on my list. They also carry plates, bowls, and regular drinking glasses.

Party supplies

Planning a party? Go to the dollar store! They have party décor, crepe paper, blank thank you notes, balloons, and other items that make decorating for your event a breeze (and pretty inexpensive).

Kid Gifts

As more of our friends and family have beautiful babies, we are being invited to more kids birthday parties every year. Not wanting to go empty handed, we often visit the dollar store for gifts. The dollar store has puzzles, activity books, coloring books, colored pencils, crayons, regular books, and fun arts and crafts kits for kids. Shopping here allows us to get more gift items for less. I make it a point to pick up a gift bag and card at the same time!

Mailing Supplies 

Mailing out items can get expensive quick. The dollar store carries large and small clasp envelopes, cardboard boxes, padded envelopes, bubble wrap, regular envelopes, and packaging tape that make shipping easy and affordable!

Office supplies

When I need note paper, note pads, sticky notes, pens, pencils, poster board, or other basic office supplies, I usually check with the dollar store first. They also typically have binders, binder dividers, file folders, and report covers.

Bonus Item: Kitchen utensils

I was hesitant to include this item in my list because you have to be careful what you buy here. The dollar store sells a variety of kitchen utensils like spatulas, spoons, measuring cups, bag clips, pizza cutters, etc. Some of the stuff is a bit cheap. You don’t want to end up with melted spatula as part of your grilled cheese sandwich. But I have picked up a couple pairs of kitchen scissors (I use these all the time), bag clips, and cutting mats at the dollar store and I haven’t had a problem with any of them.

I make most of my own cleaning products now, but I know a lot of people buy cleaning products at the dollar store as well.

Overall, this wonderful place saves me a ton of money each year and is always one of my favorite stops when I'm out and about running errands. 

What items do you buy at the dollar store? Do you agree with my list? Have something to add?

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